Esab, Lincoln or Miller

[Mark @ Everlast]

If you plan on using it for actual forging, wood smoke will smell much better when you drop hot steel on to it than melting/burning stall mat will.

Aaron Z

This too. Traditionally an oak or similar dense wood log is used, stood vertically.

 

[Big Barn]

Something like this

 

[BrokenTrack]

I was amazed at the line that would form to use those machines...especially the pulse MIG.

Oh for sure, Pulsed Mig is better than sex!

Okay, a bit overstated, but it is a close second!

Obviously for us, having a student learn to weld is not the end result, but rather having our students employed gainfully is. But that is how school accreditation works now, where 80% is based on the ability to obtain, and keep jobs. Interestingly, the topic of accreditation never came up on the thread regarding starting a welding school, but it is a huge part of having a successful welding school.

So to that end, our second largest employer uses Pulsed Mig for about 90% of their welding welds, and just to give you an idea; they employ 800-1000 welders, so it is a HUGE amount of pulse welding that occurs there. For the students that are heading there, we review Pulsed Mig in the final weeks just to be sure they have the best shot possible at starting their careers there.